We all know about jazz, a worldwide phenomenon that many listen to every day, from elevators to radio to TV shows, it is found everywhere. But what exactly is jazz? Jazz is a genre of music that originated in New Orleans in the early 20th century blending several different traditions including blues, church spirituals, and ragtime as well as influences from European, African, Latin American, and Caribbean music. It is ever-changing with no sign of stopping. Jazz is loved by many as it brought us together in so many important ways, from social to racial to even emotional conflicts in humanity and its history, jazz has helped end and fix those problems. Not only is it universally loved, but it’s everywhere! From swing to funk to fusion, jazz has found its way into every crack and crevasse of today’s music. Luckily for us we even have it represented at our school and city.

Here at Richwoods, we have an ever-growing band program, this program puts together many concerts and trips that continue to get better as the years go by. We have been invited to play at many events around Illinois and even out of state, and we are very excited to get things started back up soon! Directed by our own Mr. Render, we want to ensure that we always represent our school and city no matter where we go or what we do. Doing so has given our school much recognition, even being featured in Journal Star for the 38th Gerald M. Brookhart Arts in Education Series Spring Celebration. This gives us room to grow and improve for whatever milestone we see ourselves reaching. From personal experience, I can say it does look very good on college applications, even if you are not going to college for music. Not only that, but this program extends far past just our school, music programs are abundant and spread all over Illinois, so keep an eye out for them if you find yourself interested

On top of our hard-working program at our school, we have a group that spans across the entire city of Peoria! The Peoria Jazz All-Stars (PJAS) is a newly reformed group of students 9-12th grade that are selected through audition, anyone who is interested is more than welcome to! All are welcome for we are not just a band, but a family. All stars, like our jazz band, strive to bring out 100% of our students’ work for our city, state, and even country! Yes, the all-stars have been seen all around the world, whether it be just a drive away to New Orleans or a full flight to Paris, this group has quite the reputation.

Speaking of reputation, musicians in these programs are highly recommended to submit an audition for the upcoming Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) events. They happen every year and are open to all students 9-12th grade and are very simple to submit. They run in both concert and jazz divisions, and those selected are admitted into the All-District and potentially All-State bands. A big shoutout to last year’s students who all made the All-District band, and to our students who made the All-State band as well, these feats are simply too great to go unrecognized. That being said, as music programs start back up, we hope great things will come to us and all other schools in and around Peoria, and that we continue to represent who we are as a community, jazz does great things for our world and will only continue to as we move forward and work harder.